Apriltello August
by dontbeajakeass
Summary: I wanted some cute fluff in this ship, but I can never find enough to quench my need. (Also Kudos to Karkat for insults in "Study Session"!)
1. Awkward

Donnie had probably been singing for about five minutes without noticing her.

He was cleaning, and she knew today was his scheduled day to clean but the fairly quiet music in the background and the accompaniment of Donatello's beautiful singing voice and he still hadn't realised that he had an audience.

Of course, his brothers had probably heard it a million different ways, as she had definitely noticed how casual they always were around one another, so she figured this was the norm, but even then it was pleasant to listen to so she figured they couldn't complain anyway. She was leaning on the arcade game, watching him sweep the floor and sing "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez, quite amused by the fact he was pulling it off so well.

But obviously having to ruin the moment, Raphael came out with an "Oh hey April." the smug tone in his voice evident. She didn't even have time to make it seem as though she wasn't listening in, because he was turned in a millisecond with a small screech. He went red instantly, and turned around to get sweeping again silently, head down, shoulders tense and close towards his body while the rest of him stayed rigid and uncomfortable.

"Don't mind me, Donnie. Pretend I'm not here." Even though she knew he would find that very impossible, she stated it anyway, Raphael bursting into laughter as though it were the funniest thing in the world. It was a little amusing to see a big tough cheeto puff of a ninja singing popular mainstream songs while sweeping, but honestly it was adorable. He may not have been the strongest of them all, but he was one of the biggest dorks. It was great in her personal opinion.

Watching him swallow his pride, he turned towards her as the radio changed songs, the announcer stating the name of the song and who made it. But by then she wasn't really paying attention. "I, uh..." He cleared his throat while looking at the floor, making his way a little closer. "Sorry," he stated with a grimace, but he still managed to make it look presentable on his face. "I get a little absorbed sometimes. How long have you been standing there?"

With a quick check to her phone, she confirmed "Roughly seven minutes. You have a really great voice, though. I could listen to you sing forever." That probably sounded weird, April. Back-pedal, _back-pedal, abort_ _ **abort**_. "So do you want me to make some hot chocolate? I brought some with me because I thought you might like it."

An awkward smile and a nod was the answer she got, and so pushing off of the machine she made her way over to the kitchen, her best buddy following closely behind. What she didn't notice was Raphael wink obnoxiously at Donnie and have him try to quieten down the usually hot-headed terrapin.

Once actually in the kitchen she noticed Mikey with Ice Cream Kitty in a bowl, just sitting in front of him for now. "Oh, hows it shaking, April?" He spoke up with a lighthearted voice, and she gave a so-so hand action before going to the kettle. Donnie sat down the opposite side to his brother, and April spoke as she set to making the drinks, and one for Michelangelo as well. She knew he liked to try things and she hadn't really given them any hot chocolate before.

"I came in and Donnie was singing, though. He's really good, why didn't any of you guys tell me? Or have you just been hiding that from me for a good reason, Don?"

Donnie was frozen in place, and Mikey looked from April to his brother, a sly look on his face. "Oh really? Never? Well, I just thought he performed to you in secret or something. He gets very shy about it. Wee bab." The mocking tone in his voice wasn't unlike him but wasn't all that common either. Obviously he knew he was striking a nerve, especially with her around so she decided to try her best at making it a bit more bearable for her friend. "No need to be shy about a talent like that! But, everyone gets nervous about something. Donnie, one sugar or two?"

He had just been ignoring the whole conversation up until that question, too embarrassed to even mull it over. "Hm? Oh, one please."

Placing the mugs down in front of everyone, she watched Mikey get up to put Ice Cream Kitty away and make off with his new-found drink.

"Is it only me you don't pipe up around or...?" He tried to make out that he was drinking and couldn't answer, but the scalding liquid was burning his tongue, and he put the drink down instantly. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he got up to run it under the cold tap. "Do you want me to kiss it better?"

What. She needed to stop, right now. Her totally platonic crush was getting in the way here.

"To what?"

"Nothing."

 _Nice save, douche canoe._

"Aaaaanyway, I must say you have a lovely singing voice, I hope your tongue gets better and you actually manage to enjoy the beverage, but either way good luck with the cleaning." She made her way over to him and pulled him down into a hug, but not he short, sweet hugs. She was trying to make it as long as possible by clinging onto him like her life meant it. His body temperature was so different to hers and it made her feel bad.

 _What if he's always freezing_ , she thought.

 _What if he's deprived of warm hugs?_

 _Heat lamps don't give hugs, no matter how many are in the bathroom._

 _She had to buy them all hot water bottles or something to keep them cozy..._ and snuggle up to Donnie specifically during cold weather to try and make sure he got the point. He might possibly be able to figure out her feelings if that happened.

But, tomorrow was game night, and she had already picked out some games of which she was bringing.

It was going to be fun.


	2. Game Night

April had already brought over games before, giving them her old devices and games she didn't really like. Casey also brought down some video games so the guys could play things and such, but she was the main provider of consoles. Mostly because she was an only child and Casey was not.

Often Casey brought things like little pieces of clothing to stash in the lair in case something got soiled, however she was pretty sure it wasn't being used at all for anything ever. It might come in useful, but she should probably start doing the same thing.

All of the clothing she had been wearing recently was baggy and easy to move in, so her figure wasn't visible at all nearly. But, they were comfortable and the guys understood why she was wearing it so there was no need. Today she was glad that she did, actually. She was wearing harem pants, of which her dad referred to as "clown pants", but they were comfortable and the baggy short sleeved shirt was perfect for game night, as the games were usually intense and whenever she played video games she seemed to sweat like no tomorrow. She was unsure why as her fingers were the only things moving, really but it saved her the embarrassment.

She had brought along twister today, hoping that because of their shells they wouldn't be as flexible as her. She had been practising her flexibility every day and only resting on weekends for a couple months now, so she prayed she could win this one. But she also knew they shouldn't be underestimated. Putting the game down, she looked over to see just dance 2, a game she had brought over aaaaages ago. Apparently Splinter approved because it was better than sitting down doing nothing.

They were doing it in duos, loser picks the song and winner stays on for two goes and then swaps out. Karai was sitting there laughing at them, as Raphael had lost against Leonardo. Donnie stood up, and waved at April, assumingly taking up the next spot.

Karai gasped then shuffled over to Raphael to whisper to him, and watching the hot-head burst out laughing with near tears in his eyes couldn't help but make her curious. She sat down nearby, joining in with the rest of them and as Raph picked "Crazy in Love" by Studio Musicians she could see why he was laughing. Mikey started up laughing as well, on the verge of tears as he went on, speaking through giggles. "I get it! Because Leo likes Karai and Donnie like A-" Raph shut him up by shoving him, the music started playing.

She could not wait.

As it turned out, Donatello seemed to have a guilty pleasure.

The two were very good at this game, but it seemed as though Donnie had practised this song in particular. A lot. He was barely looking at the screen, and was instead turning it out.

Leo was doing well, but his moves weren't as well practised, and he only got "good" instead of "perfect". The fluidity of his movement wasn't there like in training. It was a little stiff and was probably why he wasn't doing as well as he could've been. She didn't really understand why her best friend's face was burning because he was doing excellently. It was kind of unfair in her opinion. It was a shame she couldn't take them all out dancing anywhere, because they would probably be pretty damn good at it and have themselves a blast. If they liked the game they would definitely enjoy it without set moves. She was positive.

Honestly, the further on it got, she realised that some of the movements were... hot? Is that what she could call it?

The shells were getting in the way a little bit, but the way they soldiered through and made it work...

Karai was staring straight at her as though she had been expecting this. She moved over to April to whisper to her, and she was afraid she would burst out laughing like Raph did.

"They're good, right? Wouldn't think that with shells but somehow they just flow with it." Her voice was near silent, and the guys had pretty bad hearing anyway. They were turtles who have better hearing underwater after all.

As the song finished she swallowed a "holy shit" to watch Mikey get up and take Leonardo's place.

"Do you wanna join in after us, April? I'm gonna kick Dee's shell at any song anyway. Going to need a safety blanket after this is done." Winking in her general direction, she thought how well each of them would be at this game, and Mikey was definitely top on her list. Maybe Donnie had hidden talents, though? She didn't know he could sing, after all. "Sure! But you're talking to the master here." She did play the game before them, and had literally given it all she had to get perfects on every song.

Leo got to choose. He chose something simple but something that Mikey would thrash Donnie at, she was 100% on it.

Wham! Wake me up.

Mikey seemed like a child on Christmas, and Donnie looked rather unimpressed. But as it started playing, she watched patiently for the scores to push the boundaries.

However, throughout the whole game the scores stayed pretty close. Guess it wasn't just one song that her buddy was great at. Either way, Mikey won the game and just before Donnie went to sit down he pulled April up to stand in his spot. "I may have thrashed Sunny D, here. But now it's your turn, oh great master." With another long chain of winks, he made his way to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. Probably pizza, homemade. Not sure if that was a good thing or a terrifying thing. Or both.

As Donnie was - technically speaking - the loser, he got to pick the song, and he had to choose the one that took her forever to get perfect. Rasputin - Boney M. "After this I brought a board game, of which used to be a good activity before video games."

Donnie was determined to beat her, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

Especially as she assumed him to be at least a little tired after already doing two songs, but no such luck. She would probably be dying by the end of it. Starting up was easy, and they both had that down. In fact, she was beating him, beating his sorry butt!

Until she tripped at the words "He could read the bible like a preacher", allowing Donnie to take the lead.

However, while expecting the impact of the floor, it never came. Donnie had caught her hand and was pulling her upright. As soon as she was he got back to it, but it took her a few seconds to fully catch on. Glancing at the scores, she was still in the lead, which meant he had paused long enough to get her back into it. Goddamn, did he really want this to be that fair? She was sure he probably could've beaten her score easy so long as he didn't take the time for her to get in the swing of things. So just as the song finished, she did what she was pretty good at.

Making him pay.

"Why exactly did you wait for my score to go back up, that's totally unfair." He seemed a little stunned, but replied calmly nonetheless. "Well you were ahead score wise, and I deemed it only fair. Why are you angry at me? You won fair and square."

A frown settled on her face and she pouted. Thankfully she had known Donnie long enough to see the slight change in his expression, however small it may be. "It wasn't fair, you should've won."

With a small laugh and a shake of his head, he went to go and hug her, but paused and instead ruffled her hair. God _damn_ it.

"Twister time."

Karai, who had been silent up until now twisted around and glared at her. "You brought _Twister_? How _dare_ you." Mikey heard and instantly popped his head out from past the fridge. "What's Twister? Is it fun?"

Before April got there Karai was already gushing about how horrible it was. "Jesus, no. It's terrible. You have to be really flexible and it's super easy to cheat. Most of the time I encounter awkward positions and and up falling on someone. I'm out."

With everyone but Karai just giving vague nods or hand gestures to say they were in, she got out the game and Karai took control of the spinner. She had put out several mats linked together so there would be enough room for everyone, but when the game started she should've made it a little easier.

Her first move had been right foot green, so she went to use the corners. Raphael, left hand yellow. He was on the opposite end to her, Mikey got left foot blue and before not long everyone was a tangled mess of limbs. Raph had given up long ago, Leo had refused to play after a while and so the three still playing were in some deep shit here.

As she had only made the board longer and not wider, they seemed to all be confined.

Mikey had his left hand on blue, right hand on green, left foot yellow and right foot on red. Heck, it was still a miracle he was in the game, especially as he decided to cross all of his limbs instead of not play face down. Either way, he was enjoying himself. Their feet were near parallel if she was being honest.

April had it a lot easier, left hand green, right hand on red, left foot on red and right foot on blue. Her chest was to the sky and as the board wasn't big enough, Donnie was right above her.

Donatello probably had the most awkward position and she felt so, so sorry for him. Right hand on yellow, left hand green, left foot yellow and right foot green. Literally having his legs wrapped around Mikey's torso was probably not comfortable.

Karai had been laughing the closer they got to this predicament, and was still laughing when the spinner landed. "Donnie, left hand yellow."

April was in the way.

He was going to be practically hugging both of them with all of his limbs.

The words "I'm so sorry" left his lips before he reached around and under her, causing him to get lower until he literally had his head pressed against her chest. She was trying her best not to laugh and he could probably feel it at such a close proximity, but she couldn't help it.

The words "Mikey, left foot red." killed them all.

Just as he was manoeuvring, he lost balance, causing Donnie to fall on top of April and eventually they were all on the floor along with Karai cackling like she called it. Of which she did, but that was irrelevant.

The first to move was Donnie and he was just apologising, but she started laughing which dissolved all three into hysterics along with Karai.

The four had painful sides by the time they were done.


	3. Prom

April had been excited about going to prom for months now. It had really been something she had been looking forward to for so long, and waiting just inside the hall she found that nobody was waiting for her. They could just be running late, but then again she doubted it. This was Casey Jones we were speaking about here, he was either there or not at all. He may have had a bad record but that didn't mean he was ever late. It was quite the miracle if you ask her.

Sat for the next half hour messaging Donnie she tried to have a good time with her friends, but they all had dates. It was either making out, having sex in the bathrooms or completely ignoring her for their other half. She just wanted to have fun with one of her friends and maybe dance the night away, but all she had done was sit down messaging her not so human friends and eat everything on the refreshments table. She didn't touch the punch because she didn't trust it, nor the people in here.

It was a long, stressful day and coming here to unwind had been even more hopeless than she had thought. Her coil was wrapped tighter than Mikey making a burrito without letting the filling hit the floor.

Swallowing her pride, she decided to leave, not telling her dad as he just wanted her to have fun. Instead, she took the public bus in her unusual attire and waited for her stop.

A small child came and asked if she was a princess, which did admittedly brighten her day and think about what it would be like to have a kid, but those thoughts subsided while she got to going over other things.

She had tried her hardest to look the part, and her hair was in a neat bun, two ringlets either side of her face with her fringe brushing just below her eyebrows. The hairtie she had used even matched her dress, a golden and white colour with pearl pins stuffed into her hair. It was neat and pretty, but she didn't feel that way.

Her dress was white, the skirt rather like a jellyfish. She wasn't too fond of it, but she had to admit it was pretty. The golden ribbon around her waist tied it all together, a large bow behind her sitting on top of the skirt, of which had trails of ribbon over the puffy skirt. The necklace of which adorned her collarbones was gold, and actually was something she would wear all the time. It was the Aeon crystal, of which had been decorated to match, her translucent sleeves bringing the attention upwards. When training as a kunoichi it didn't exactly give her delicate feminine arms. It worked, though, and the white gloves that covered her hands were luckily enough, able to still allow her to use her phone. Without it she would feel dreadfu-...

Glancing up and out of the window to the bus, she spotted Casey with another girl.

It didn't really look like she was doing anything more than a normal day, but it still hurt. The two may have only been friends, but the fact he would ditch her to go out with this girl made her gut twist.

Instead of going home where her father was and telling him what had happened, she went down to the lair. She had told everyone not to laugh because she felt awful, but no matter how good she knew all of them were some of them cough Raphael cough had a tenancy to laugh at inappropriate times. Something felt up, though, and when getting off the bus she felt like something was going to happen. Bad or not, she felt something disturb the peace.

Making her way into the sewers in the dress was easy, but keeping it clean was hard when having to go down a hole in the floor. She managed to keep her dress pristine and lovely, though.

The lair was dimly lit, and she could barely see anything, however walking in slowly she spotted each of the turtles in ties to match their discarded mask. Raphael was in charge of music, and she could feel herself start smiling at these guys. _This is what it's like to have amazing friends_ , she thought. Leo made his way over first, taking her by the hand gently to lead her towards the makeshift dancefloor.

But what made it great was the fact that even if none of them had been formally trained, they seemed to have at least a grasp on it. _They probably researched before I came back_ , she assumed, and she noticed that they were each dancing with each other as they switched places. Apparently Splinter had pre-approved this, as he was nowhere to be seen. Or he was out for a walk.

Leonardo twirled her outwards, Mikey taking over in a smooth transition. The smile that graced Michelangelo's features told her it had been a team effort. He seemed very proud, though, so she could only assume he did a fair amount of this. He gave up the dance pretty fast though, then hurried past Raphael to take something out of the oven.

That left only her and Donnie left. He seemed to have pushed past his nerves to take her hand and restart the dance motions again, and Leo had gone to sit by Raphael. He seemed unsure of where to put his hands, just hovering them, so she leaned into him to make it easier, just wrapping her arms around his shoulders to sway.

Seemed fine by him, as his nerves melted away, leading just slightly. There wasn't much movement, but she barely heard him speak. She was too busy getting caught up in the moment, and as she paused to look up at his maskless face, he started chewing his lip. Oh god, she'd have to ask him to repeat what he'd said.

"I... Sorry, I didn't hear what you said, would you mind repeating?" He swallowed, and the motion was awfully attractive in a way, though she needed to hear. She couldn't do that to him a second time. "Sorry about your prom."

The smile that radiated from her made him feel even more nervous for some reason.

"I like it here better anyway." Was the reply, and just as she leaned up to peck his lips the music changed to an upbeat dance music. She didn't get to press the kiss to his lips before his brothers were hurrying over, Mikey working them oven mitts.

She could deal with dancing along with her friend to "This is how we do" instead of an intimate dance with the person she liked most.


	4. Study Session

When in doubt of things she usually asked Donnie for help. When those things happened to be science homework, he was the person to go to. One hundred percent.

She had already established her crush for her best friend, but hadn't really had the chance to act on it properly yet, especially as around prom time she'd nearly kissed him. If only his brothers gave him the time of day. She wouldn't have backed out if their lips had already connected. Even thinking about what it'd be like was nice, magical even. The cool texture, the emotional connection without a care in the world. As though a supernova was in the background, or something like fireworks in her brain. The taste, probably nothing really, or the slight hint of whatever he'd put in his mouth last be that pizza, hot chocolate or coffee. She wasn't too fond of coffee herself, but she associated it with Donnie and so it had grown on her. Not the taste, but that might grow on her if she frenched him enough.

Exiting her daydreams, she looked around her room. Casey was here in person "helping", even if he was just there to copy her answers. The guys were all grounded for sneaking out, so she called him up on Skype. She knew it wasn't exactly the best plan as Skype was well known for it's disruptive behaviour, but without him being able to visit it would be a shame, and she didn't want to get him in more trouble. He was the only one that had the program, actually, as his brothers either didn't own computers or didn't care all that much. But Donnie was determined to make it easy for April or Casey to contact him. He may hate the guy, but he put the safety of others first, so he allowed short and snappy conversation if it meant someone was in trouble.

Clicking the call button, she watched as the call noise came up, loud and clear unlike pretty much anything else. Casey heard and popped his head around the door while ordering pizza, mouthing "who you calling?". she just waved him off.

She had to call a second time, but eventually he picked up, and it looked like he had been sleeping. A yawn broke him off from what he was about to say, but instead said his greeting afterwards. "Hey, April. What's up?" The slight moisture in his eyes and the unusually dazed expression he wore confirmed that yes, he had just woken up. God she felt awful now.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were sleeping. I can leave you be, I just wanted to know if my best buddy in the whole world would be able to help me with my homework because I am slightly confused. But I didn't realise you'd be sleeping, so I'll-" On screen he raised both his hands and faked being totally awake. "No! I'm wide awake, fresh as a daisy. I don't mind." It was obvious he was still tired, but the fact he was always willing to help made her heart swell.

Casey chose that moment to jump on her wheelie chair and slide over to push her chair a little. "Why'd you call this nerd? The only help you need is Casey Jones."

"Bet you don't even know the quadratic formula." He was barely hear mumbling under his breath. She was just surprised the call hadn't glitched out on her as of yet. The sewers seemed to have pretty good signal, though. She was quite jealous.

Casey didn't answer and instead started doodling on his work.

April was trying her best to stay calm about this, but really she was just simmering her rage under the surface. "Let's get this over with so you can go home, and you can go back to sleep." Retorting with "I wasn't sleeping!" she just rolled her eyes with a smile. Likely story, pal.

It should have been easy, but with a wild card like Casey Jones, it was going to be a long night. Especially as he kept pulling insults out of his ass to hit Donnie with.

"You're like a rocket propelled spaz maggot springloaded up the ass of a fucking weasel on drugs."

"You blithering, feculent shithole. Really, I don't see anything different about you. All I see is a coward who hides behind a full-face mask and a pair of impudent lips pursed so tight when I punch you it'll sound like air squealing out of a balloon when I punch you in the gut."

"Wow! I think I just tugged at well wrapped present of go fuck yourself! It's for you, you ugly pile of trash."

The doorbell went. As she was apparently the only sane person, she got up and went to the door, finding the pizza delivery guy looking at her as though she had grown a second head. "My friends are at each others throats right now, could you give me a moment please?"

The guy just nodded and tried peering in, but she pushed the door to as she put the pizza down where they were squabbling. She was probably going to be the only one eating it anyway. Picking up her purse-

"-Oxygen theif!"

turned towards the door to leave-

"-Oozing vestigial third oral sphincter how could you be so stupid?"

and as she opened the door again with her purse the guy was doubled over laughing silently, clapping his hands like a walrus. "Yes one of my friends has colourful language, no he is not going to give you a sheet of insults and yes you may have a tip. Please just... ignore it." Paying the guy she shut the door, turning back to sit down and start eating while her friends fought.

"You're dumber than snake mittens, dude."

"I think we need to get back on the point here, which is addressing the fact that you're an abhorrent column of smarmy filth."

"You don't even get that I'm better than you in pretty much every possible way. You don't get that because you're incredibly stupid."

"For gods sake, you're the dumbest bucket of festering discharge that I ever fell ass backwards into. I could kill myself by climbing all the way up to your ego and jumping off until I reached your IQ."

"Isn't it dangerous to use your entire vocabulary in one sentence?"

"Look, Casey. I am a disgusting, worthless piece of shit on the gargantuan teat of a labouring, leprous horse. My self esteem is so small that even its existence is a matter of conjecture among theoretical physicists. I have received a lifetime ban from ugly contests by president shitface himself, and all because I was close to overthrowing him. My blood isn't fit to flow through a sewer, yet here I am! Everyone thinks I'm smart, but I routinely underestimate every situation I'm forced into and only figure out what to do after it's too late. So if you want to tell me I'm a piece of shit fine, but you want me to do anything for you ever again, Casey Jones, you're talking to the wrong fucking cowboy."

And with that, Donnie ended the call.

April had never actually seen him get so worked up, but having him spill such information made her feel awful. There was no trying to stop it, she had tried in the past and just got an earful, however listening to him say something like that? It was a whole other story. Turning to Casey with a frown and folded arms, she gave him an expression that would make blood curl. She learnt it from several people, and every version sent shivers up her spine. "Why exactly did you push so far?"

His expression alone showed he was a little worried about what was going down, but he masked it almost instantly. "The dude was doing the same thing, if you're going to reprimand me but not him then you've got another thing coming, Red."

"I may have, but you pushed him so far that he is no longer online for me to tell him anything!" She exploded at him, her expression alone saying that she was hurt. Often Casey could roll things off, but no. He had to take everything out on the one person who - other than Mikey - always seemed willing to help. Now if Casey was around, she wasn't sure what she could say about the situation exactly.

"I've had enough of this for today, please can you go home. I'll message you the answers if you're that concerned about it, but I cannot be around anyone right now." Her voice was soft, a little strained, but still quiet. Sorrowful.

They were only seventeen, yet all of this was piling up and up and up. She needed to be alone, at least for a little while.

Before she got to doing her work, however, she sent Donnie a message in case he came back online even for a moment.

" _Sorry about that. I didn't know it would go so far, and nobody listens to me when I try and stop fights. If you're still willing to help, Casey went home. I hope you aren't mad at me._ "

The "offline" was staring her in the face, and she kept her eyes on the screen for about five minutes before starting on her maths homework. Her science was too hard for her, as they had put her in the higher tiers because of her fathers insistence. Either way, she was sure she'd be fine.

* * *

Later that night, she noticed she had an answer from Donnie. It was after she'd eaten dinner and watched a movie, but it said he'd only replied a couple of minutes ago and she assumed he had done the same. Or at least something similar. The message read;

" _Nah, it's fine. You know how we get. I may have gotten less a hold on my emotions the longer it went on, though I could never actually be mad at you. I know we all get absorbed in arguments and although it isn't healthy, it's better to let things out. I'm just sorry it went on so long, I barely even managed to help much._ "

She replied quickly, looking at the clock. 1:48am.

" _There's still time. :)_ "

A few moments after sending the message, the screen came up with that well-known sound and the nickname she'd given him when she first added him. She hadn't the heart to change it from the words "Super Best Friend", even if she felt more for him than that.

He looked worn out, possibly like he'd been crying and she felt her heart sink once more. Maybe that's what he'd been doing while he was gone.

A weak smile graced his features and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Still time to make today useful, right?" A small laugh was his only reward.

They worked through the night, and by the time she had finished, she looked up to find Donnie sleeping at his desk, mask off and face relaxed and peaceful. That was her reward. Watching him sleep peacefully at the computer, leaning on the keys and occasionally sending a message of jumbled letters and numbers whenever he moved too much. This, she thought, This is exactly what she wanted to wake up to in the mornings, she decided.

Pulling up her keyboard, she ended the call and left a message for him to find when he woke up.

" _Love you, night Donatello. 3_ "


	5. Bath Time

Donnie had been staring at the screen ever since he woke up. _She loves me_ , he thought. _No she doesn't_ , said the more logical side, _She just doesn't want you to feel bad and or have a nice night._ The other side knocked back in with a comeback that made him agree, maybe she does like him. _But the message was sent roughly half an hour after I went to sleep. She couldn't have thought I'd read it before sleeping._

Instead of arguing with himself he got up, brushed his teeth and went to get breakfast. He also needed to shower, but he would like to eat first. He decided not to reply to the message until he got out from a bath or something, but as he went to get his food his phone went off. April.

Swallowing and holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder, he continued making his breakfast while answering. "Hey April, did you need anything?" The slight hitch in his voice showed he was nervous, but she probably figured why when she told him she loved him. He was still freaking out over when she came back from prom and nearly kissed him. He was actually too nervous to anyway, and gave a hand signal to change the song.

It wasn't because he didn't want to kiss her, _because he did_ , he just wasn't ready. He was scared, his palms felt clammy which was weird as turtles couldn't sweat(even if they did have half human DNA), and he hadn't brushed his teeth since that night. He wasn't wearing his lucky belt, and many other reasons of which were absolutely ridiculous and totally uncalled for. He kinda regretted it, actually, but hey, what can you do? Moving on wasn't his style, so instead he thought about it every passing day. What it would've been like to kiss April O'Neil properly again.

He did it once, but he just stood there like a shocked fool and didn't do anything to make it seem like he enjoyed the experience. He could never really think in the moment, and it took him long enough to fight without thinking, let alone be around a girl without thinking. That was a whole other ball game, of which he sucked at playing.

"Well, I don't need anything but I wanted to wonder if you did? I'm in a really nice soap shop and everything smells amazing. I'm not being horrible, but I thought you guys might appreciate it."

So thoughtful, so pure.

"Nah, we're good. We usually try to be as quick as possible when showering or bathing because there's four of us. I mean, if it were at an irregular interval I'd probably be able to, but we have very sensitive noses. If it isn't all natural it can be rather painful to smell, let alone for a long time." She seemed like she was absorbing the information, and then the smile in her voice came around. "Great! Because everything in here is 100% natural and cruelty free, so you should be in the clear. I'll get some stuff for you guys and you can tell me which ones you prefer. It could be a nice relaxing day, as I know you don't have training today! Okayloveyoubye."

The line went dead, and he didn't even answer anything. But she had repeated the words "love you" and it was making his heart do flip flops. She loved him. _She loved him._

God, today was going to be a good day.

As April arrived, there were many scents assaulting his nose, and she had a little bag of things with her. He could only assume what they were, and she also held what appeared to be a cup with a hot beverage inside judging by the steam. Moving closer, he realised it was coffee. "April, why do you have coffee? I thought you didn't drink coffee?"

Beaming in his direction, he swallowed just as she said "It's for you! But don't tell your brothers." He just assumed it was because she wouldn't have enough hands. That was the only other logical reason minus the whole _she loves you_ theory he had been tossing around lately. She was also wearing a backpack, of which it's contents was entirely unknown.

Holding out the cup, he took it with the utmost care and took a small sip. _It's the coffee she got for you once before. The one you said was a little too bitter, but is currently perfect. The one she bought over two years ago, yet still managed to remember._ His heart leapt into his throat.

"So what did you get? I was meaning to take a shower today anyway so it might be nice to use my time wisely." She got excited and started pretty much bouncing on the spot. "Can I join you? I'll wear like a swimsuit or something, maybe even my clothing but I could help you reach the back of your shell and stuff!"

How could he say no? She was so excited and it would be helpful, definitely. Good bonding time, too.

With a little whine and a sigh, he gave a shy nod, leading her straight to the bathroom. She was still bouncing every step of the way, and as he went in to turn on the water she came over and put the bags down. As though not allowing him the delight of getting in the water with April, she told him to go and finish his drink first.

Downing it in several large gulps he had a glass of water and then came back to find April searching through her bags. "I'm gonna get in the water, so if you get changed I wont look." With that, he took off his gear and got in the water and lay under it, face submerged and comfortable, he closed his third eyelid and felt himself lay still. He was holding his breath was easy with his lungs. His record so far was about two days, and Mikey had beaten him by far. Not long after, he felt April poke his arm, as though extending caution. She was shaking, he could feel it, but as he sat himself up and cleared the vision from the white, translucent layer of skin he looked up at her questioning her.

"Oh thank god, I thought you were dead."

A laugh erupted from him and as he looked up at her the genuine concern melted from her face and she hopped in, the bag on hand. "How long can you guys even stay submerged?"

Her question was admittedly not that difficult to answer, but it did require thought on the matter. "Well, turtles of our species before mutation could only withstand up to a several hours, possibly around eight plus, whereas we have much larger lungs and therefore have a larger capacity of oxygen to carry, so we can stay completely submerged for at least a day or two."

She seemed genuinely shocked, but he shrugged it off. "Like a turtle do, I guess."

With a brief shake of her head, she pulled out a couple of things to show him, holding them up for him to smell. "Check if they work with your nose or if you like them before I torture you with feminine smelling soaps." A shrug. "I don't mind. You always smell really nice, so I don't really care." The blush that crept up his neck was mirrored on her, and the way she shuffled closer indicated she took it well.

Leaning forward to sniff it, the first one made his eyes water, and he pulled back instantly, the citrus flavour assaulting his senses and giving him a headache. April didn't hesitate to toss it out without care. She must've paid good money for these and he felt horrible watching her toss them without a care.

Hesitating, this time he leaned down to smell whatever this goo was, but it smelt surprisingly good. Actually it was probably the same soap April used, and smelt like raspberries with a hint of a flower he couldn't name right now. He was getting intoxicated by the smell, and instinctively leaned his face forward to realise it felt like jelly on his cheek.

It was odd, but amused April, and she pulled it back to make him sit upright again, however this didn't last for long. Instead, he pushed his way forward to rub his face around her affectionately, both trying to imprint on her and steal the scented soap away from her. Both arms wrapped around her waist to try and grab the soap, but she moved it further away.

When nuzzling his snout against her neck he found a certain spot that made her laugh. So, he kept using it to listen to those beautiful bubbles of sound, and eventually she let her arms weave around his back, over his shoulders to cuddle with him in the warm water.

It was silent for a short while, as he gazed into those winter eyes of hers, as she fluttered her eyes and stared back into his cocoa warmth. She was the one to break the silence.

"So you want me to use this one?" She offered, and only now did he realise the one piece she was wearing that brought out the colour in her eyes. God, he had fallen hard. A small nod and he leaned into her, arms wrapping around her tighter as he leaned against her with his face against her shoulder. She seemed comfortable, and started scrubbing gently over the carapace of which he couldn't always reach, a low noise rumbling from his chest. It wasn't anything sexual as when turtles usually made noises, but was instead a soft hum of which was more human than anything. He was going limp against her, and she was calmly starting to go over his arms, legs and gently coaxing him to turn over she shifted him so his head was between her folded legs, looking up at her as she went.

Just watching her was enough for him, though as she leaned down to capture his lips with her own, he was already gone. He was thinking again, and luckily she held for a few seconds long enough for him to reciprocate the upside-down kiss she had going on. Her hand was still gently rubbing soap over his plastron, but was kissing him with the love of someone that had waited far too long. He started to smile, and he knew she could feel it press against her lips, as she started smiling too.

By the time she moved back, the two were gazing at each other like lovesick dorks and he felt like an idiot with such a smile plastered along his face, but she was mirroring it in her own way. It looked adorable.

"You want me to do you?" He asked, mostly out of politeness, but at the response of a nod, he sat himself up and held April the same way she did him to help her. He didn't go over the swimsuit not to waste the soap, but instead put it down and rubbed his hands over her back soothingly. The two nearly fell asleep in the bath all cuddled up to each other close until Raph burst in claiming he needed to pee.


	6. Lab Work

A couple of weeks after dating April in secret, he had been caught out. He wasn't talking about her as often, but he was making even more goo-goo eyes at her(apparently). That may have just been coincidental, but when she started doing the same right back at him they sussed them out. Well, minus Mikey. He had a short attention span and couldn't really care less about whether his brother was dating one of their good friends. He was supportive, yes, but he just didn't care about being swallowed into a relationship.

Once they figured it out, the teasing only burned up into an inferno instead of a candle-lit flame. Either way, at least most of the responses could be "yeah," "possibly" or stutters of approval, instead of the flipside where he was completely negative about his chances with her. Sure, he tried, even though he figured it could never work.

He had watched Corpse Bride, and felt rather related to Emily in ways.

In the lab had been different today. He had just finished a batch of retromutagen and was ready to put it aside for any other problematic mutants. Possibly those that were once enemies. They wouldn't have the advantage of certain animalistic traits, and therefore would be easier in battle, however April came in and he freaked out. He went to grab the fairly large vial but unfortunately it turned and spilt all over his hands. And if a tiny drop can turn April's dad back, it wasn't good at all for Donnie.

He felt his hands start to tingle at first, and then April had appeared at his side. He was getting smaller, he knew that. He no longer fit in his belt, or his mask and it was all falling down. April was trying to help but she didn't know how, and by the time it was all over, she stood a giant before his tiny form, and he pushed himself onto two legs to feel better, but fell backwards onto his shell. Right. He wasn't made to stand up as a turtle.

Immediately, she reached over and lifted him carefully, setting him down right-side up again. Going to speak, he noticed his voice was also gone. Jesus christ.

She covered her mouth and could see the smile creeping up her face. He wanted to protest, but it was quite the fiasco. What a predicament he'd gotten himself into. Sitting on her feet and reaching forward, she cupped him carefully between her silky soft hands and picked him up to kiss his forehead. "I'll figure it out, okay? Should we ask Mikey for help?" He may be a dingbat sometimes, but he was pretty smart when he needed to be. Even then, he didn't want to risk it. He shook his head.

"Well you can't do it, you're an adorable little turtle again. I can't because I'm not that smart." Donnie couldn't listen to her say those things, because she actually was really intelligent compared to the average teenage girl. And she had to keep up with ninja training. Without being able to speak, he nuzzled against her palm and sat down, looking up at her with big brown eyes. Then he thought "maybe her dad could help" but he also didn't want to get involved with mister O'Neil.

It was his only hope, though.

Using morse code, he tapped out "dad" with his tiny little feet, and thank god she caught along. He wondered what she did to learn morse code, but he couldn't think straight right now. He was just thankful he couldn't babble on and bore her to tears.

The mumble of "praise being a girl scout" was heard and his question was answered. Immediately he thought of a tiny, 6 year old April selling cookies and wearing a cute little uniform. He'd seen her school ID years ago, and picturing her with massive glasses and not yet having braces made him start to let a soft noise out. It wasn't really sexual, but was quiet enough to be heard as he settled down in her hands.

Just as one of his brothers walked in, he realised that she was going to have to cover for him for a little while. He didn't want it getting out, even if his brothers would be able to recognise him if they got too close. So, he pulled his head into his shell and the rest of his limbs most of the way.

"April, why did I hear shouting in the lab? Donnie doesn't usually shout unless it's explosive, and there weren't any of those noises... Who's the lil guy?" Peeking out slightly, he watched April, and tried to beg from in his confines. She withdrew him and Raphael immediately stopped pursuing the small turtle. The species they were were meant to stay small their whole lives. Probably the reason Splinter bought them. Damn red slider turtle genes.

"Yeah, sorry, he's... shy to newcomers and doesn't like people very much." Raph gave her a look that read are you fucking serious, but Donnie was mulling over the word shy with a mocking; _no kidding_.

"We're turtles, April. Not people." She gave him a look of " _don't press further_ " and he found himself unable to stop a churr erupt from the confines of his body. He could feel everything shift slightly and he was _not_ having that, especially while in April's hands so he held back as best he could, listening to his brother start laughing.

Aprill was beyond confused, but held her tongue for now, placing Donnie down on the lab table. As soon as her warmth left he felt lost, and very cold. Moving over to the lamp on his desk he sat under it, waiting for the "I'm busy" to hush and for her to come back and turn on the light. It was going to be a long game of charades, here.

When she did return, she took a moment to clock and moved the lamp closer before turning it on, moving it rather close so he could absorb the heat from it. Previously being a mix of human and turtle DNA turned out to be why they were never too freezing.

Watching her whip her phone out and open up google, he felt his stomach drop. _Oh no. This is where everything ends, life, end now or forever hold your peace I swear to god._ But as he went to move closer she pushed him back under the lamp. She was either concerned or mad at him, but he couldn't help it! He was a teenager after all, and his hormones were up the creak. Jesus, if you're real. Take him right now, he couldn't bear to wait any longer.

The little 'o' shape her mouth made said it all, but before she could move her hands away he made his way over to lick her hand. Apologise. Something.

But as she put her phone down, he spotted she hadn't searched the sound, just searched ways of keeping turtles warm without heat lamps. For the moment she just picked him up and cuddled him carefully, which certainly was nice, and then got herself up to make her way home. Before doing so, however, he ran him a warm bath in the sink with the plug in and let him warm up before leaving. She put him in the pocket of her hoodie and he could tell she was running by the sudden movements.

As she got back, she placed him on her desk, shoved everything else out and started hurrying around as though he were dying. He wasn't dying, just rather tired. He fell asleep just as he was picked up by two, rough hands.

* * *

When waking up, he saw April half asleep just in front of the desk looking worn out, As he tried to reach her, he hit his head against the clear forcefield blocking his way known as glass. April heard the little sound, and stirred, opening one eye slightly, so he carefully placed his hands against the glass, sure not to lean too far in case he fell once more.

She rubbed her eyes and as she stood up to take him out of the makeshift enclosure for him as he was, and hold him but Casey Jones had taken over his lady's bed. The tiny frown must've been evident on his face as she hushed him softly, pressing the tip of her little nose against his even littler snout. "Red, why are you nuzzling a turtle?" She glanced up at him and continued doing it, making Donnie feel very smug, even in his tiny little form. That little shit.

"Because he needs love and attention." Casey laughed, but she stood confidently and started peppering little kisses all over him. His forehead, arms, hands, feet, even his shell and it was making the churr rise up again, so he tried swallowing it down. Casey had stood up and made his way over, one arm pressing against the edge of the desk, effectively trapping her. "But what about Casey Jones? I need love and attention too."

Snickering, she mumbled "you get enough of that from Raphael." and he flushed slightly, hiding in on himself. "Plus, why are you still here? I told you to go ages ago."

"I needed your wifi password, and you were asleep. Couldn't wake the little lady up now, could I?"

She punched his arm and carefully put Donnie into the water, of which he decided to sit under(it was warm) and observe what April would do. He trusted her, of course, but he never really got to see many of her actions because he was too busy gazing longingly at her. Right now, especially in hot weathers he could feel himself get more and more hormonal. And in this state it was worse, though it was nice to have an actual perspective after all. He was just a tiny little spectator.

"Why can't you use your own instead of scrounging off of mine? And why do you need it anyway?"

"It was supposed to be quick, but your little friend kept making noises in his sleep. wanted to know if he was dying."

She stood still for a moment, seemingly recalling the events of what transpired and pulled her phone out and held up google for him to use. "Knock yourself out, Casey."

It took about five minutes and then he burst out laughing. He could feel his cheeks heating up again.

"Why does that always happen?" April questioned, looking into the tank, but Donnie turned away, ashamed.

Casey handed her the phone.

Her face went red and he stood there like a meek little human who'd just broken all the windows in the house. She read over it fairly quickly, then looked at him with a soft expression, but he couldn't face her. She looked up at Casey and frowned. "Now look what you did!"

"It's just some dumb turtle, Red, calm your tits!"

She did not calm her tits, by the looks of it. Not even one. She turned him around and gently pushed him out. "No, this turtle right here is nicer than you right now. Please, just go and come back later." Casey mumbled something about her being on her period for kicking him out twice, and she just sighed. Going back to Donnie, she had herself an idea.

Pulling out her old Barbie house, she put him in the kitchen and gave him several small, plastic mugs or cups of which to work in. She had a scientist for a dad, so she did have things on her, and hurried to get them. Once bringing them back, she found Donnie arranging them, and once giving him small samples of things he pointed to she helped to get anything he needed, spelling it out in morse code.

Once it was done, all he could think was _well, here we go_ as he tested the substance by pouring it over himself.

The way he made it wasn't the same, but with limited supplies and no mutagen on hand it would have to do. It did turn him back to normal size, anyway. But...

He crushed the dollhouse.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, April I-" He was cut off by a pair of lips crashing against his own, arms wrapping around him tightly, whole body pressed flush against hers. Their teeth bumped a couple of times, but when they found a motion that worked their first - not upside-down - kiss was found successful, and he wove his arms under and around her to rub her lower back sweetly.

First words after he gets changed back from April were "So what got you so aroused?"

He didn't actually answer that, as she could probably figure it out.


	7. Babysitting Duty

April was close to giving up by this point. She loved kids, sure, but they were harder to handle than she could imagine. The little "angel" was prancing around throwing toilet paper everywhere. Whenever she seemed to try and get the stinker to stop she would find something else destructive to do. She couldn't stand doing this by herself, and what sort of parent would believe a 6 year old about a speaking turtle?

So, she did what any responsible teenager would do and took the child to meet her friends. She did know they had training, but she was also certain that at least Splinter wouldn't mind giving her some help. The little girl was excited, though a little disgusted when she went into the sewers, but looked rather happy. Picking the girl up so she didn't get her feet in anything dirty while on the way, she settled Naomi on her hip, hurdling the turnstiles with one hand and a child in the other.

It was mostly quiet other than the clash of metals, indicating that they were indeed, training. She had to cancel because of the little stinker, but hey, she made it. The second she walked in, she dodged a sai thrown into the wood of the door, a small gasp escaping her mouth. "Ninjas! Your friends are ninjas!"

Once hearing the voice of someone they did not recognise, everyone turned to April to see her with a small child. Mikey dropped his nun-chucks and hurried over to say hello. "Aren't you like the cutest? April, where did you get her?"

Leo was more concerned on the fact she didn't question it, and just took it in stride. Nor that she asked why they were turtles, but children seemed more open minded than adults, apparently. "She's Naomi. I'm babysitting her for a friend."

As she grinned, it was made apparent she had a gap in the middle between her front teeth, and Michelangelo's squeal was heard throughout the dojo. "Donnie! Look, it's like your mouth was cloned!" It was clear he rolled his eyes, but the little girl seemed enamoured by the fact that someone else had a gap between their teeth. "Woah! Really?! Can I see?" The smile on her face was making her eyes bunch up, and Donnie looked uncomfortable as everyone turned to look at him.

"...What?"

"OHMYGODIT'STRUE" She stated in a hurried voice, wiggling in April's grip to go over and talk to him. She was much, much smaller when not in April's arms but that was to be expected. She was only about to his knees, possibly halfway up his thigh, give or take. At first, the girl just stood there, and he didn't much know what to do, but fortunately Mikey was here to save the day. "You two already have so much in common. Why don't we switch you guys out for the moment, because Donnie already did his training for the moment." April seemed to think, but the little girl turned to look at her with big, puppydog eyes. Raphael muttered "damn, she's good" before she finally caved.

"Fine, Donnie if you're fine with it. But, you have to stay in the room."

The excited child wrapped herself around his leg and he waddled to the side, placing his staff down on the floor. Once she had let go, and they were both sat with crossed legs, she crawled into his lap to sit down.

Once Splinter was satisfied that she would be safe with his son, he gave the word to begin.

Naomi went to whisper to Donnie as everyone went on sparring. "Are you guys really ninjas? What did the guy in the robe say? Is he speaking in tongues?" The tall terrapin laughed, and placed both hands on his knees, just in case something came flying and he'd be able to block it faster. "Yeah, we are, but he was just telling them to begin. It's Japanese, me and my brothers first language. English is our second." Leaning her head back to look up at him, she looked like she was going to injure her neck while he looked down at her. "That's so cool! I'm from Hawaii."

As much as he hated to say it, he actually quite liked this girl. She was so small and delicate, and he'd probably actually be able to protect her unlike April. She seemed to dislike it when he tried to help or protect her. "That's pretty neat, though. I haven't really been anywhere else travelling." She made a sympathetic noise and her voice was smaller, nearly inaudible above the clash of weapons. "Do you want to travel?" A non-committal shrug answered her and she looked back at all four of them in battle.

She looked down, examining his hands, picking one up with one of her smaller ones. He guessed her question. "We're turtles, we aren't like you guys. But, it also means I can push multiple buttons on video games easier, AND I barely miss clap song counts." He said it proudly, and she looked quite jealous. Shuffling off of his lap she sat beside him, awaiting his hands to start a clap song. When glancing over, though, he was actually not too sure if he had done many clap songs. Shifting to face her, he held both his hands up, and the second she started he used his excellent reflexes to keep up with the movements she was going for. But half-way through she spotted a cockroach and started screaming.

Everyone paused to see why she had started crying, and Donnie went "protective brother mode", picking her up and asking carefully, looking around for anything that might be bothering her. "Are you okay, what happened?"

"There's a cockroach, right over there!"

Raphael screamed and jumped in the air, clinging onto Donatello as well, nearly strangling him. Why did everyone always jump onto him? A strangled voice made it's way past to assure her there was nothing to worry about. "Calm down, it's totally fine. Some people keep them as pets, though they're usually hissing cockroaches. They're completely harmless, probably only looking for food." That was a lie, some cockroaches are prone to causing allergic reactions. "Raph, please get off so I can set it outside."

As though he were made of scalding metal, Raphael hopped off as Donnie slipped Naomi onto his shell to hold on and picked up the offending creature. She seemed fascinated, and leaned forward to see what exactly it was doing. She let out a laugh when she noticed it was just wiggling, seemingly dancing when waiting to be set free.

Watching it go, she waved and April returned to find the two of them, watching the little girl shout goodbyes to the little insect. "I take it you're having fun?" Both nodded. A smile spread over April's face and the tanned little girl hopped off to rush over to April. "Did you know that he's really amazing at clap songs and video games?" A sidelong glance confirmed that he had indeed been playing clap songs with her. "Oh really, now? I never would've guessed. But he is really good at singing."

He glared at her just as little Naomi's face lit up. She was jumping by this point. "I wanna hear you sing! Pretty please?" His face stayed completely serious as he said this, and she felt herself dip into a pool of sadness for a moment. "The physical appearance of the please doesn't change anything. But I will say that April is amazing at dancing." She looked so excited she might faint. She had been fluctuating between emotions so frequently that it was a very possible scenario. "You guys are just saying these things. No real proof!"

Both just looked at each other and laughed, Donnie lifting the little girl onto his shoulders being careful not to allow her to hit anything. She grabbed the tails of his mask, pulling it askew. April just reached out to hold his hand, running her thumb over his knuckles. _He would make a really good dad._ She thought to herself, trying to imagine the image of the two as parents. Donnie wasn't really the type to tell dad jokes, but she could easily take over that. He would probably teach the child things she herself hadn't quite grasped, or take care of them after a long day in the lab, tucking them in before he, himself went to sleep. If only, right.

* * *

At the end of the day, Naomi had rushed around the lair playing tag with all four brothers and herself, tripped over Splinter and been taught how to use a bokken briefly before falling asleep. It had been a long day, but even then it had been fun. Just before knocking on the door it flung open, her parents taking the sleeping girl carefully from April.

"Was she good? Did she cause too much trouble?" A shake of the head and wave of her hand gave the answer. "It was a breeze, but she kept talking about giant, talking turtles, of which were ninjas? Maybe she had a wacky dream or something." April lied, and it was easily one of the easiest she'd had to pull out of her ass.

"Talking ninja turtles," her parents commented. "Who'd have guessed, right? What an imagination."


	8. Light Reading

Donnie had always been the one to proofread his brothers writing, and when it switched from regular things to Space Heroes fanfiction he honestly shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. It was a time when he wished he'd never agreed, but he would do it if it set his mind at ease. He could never leave it as occasionally Leo had things of which needed double checking for spaces, or missing letters which were probably skipped over accidentally. If he said he had read it and Leonardo went over it again then he would've lost his shell by this point.

Halfway through, April came into his room, holding two mugs of the hot chocolate she brought with her a while back. It seemed to be one of his favourite drinks when relaxing, and she had told him it reminded her of his eyes. It was a sweet notion, but he didn't see how his eyes could be swirling, delicious pools of cocoa as hers were bright, bold oceans which were reeling him in quickly to peck her cheek.

Shuffling himself over, he allowed her space to sit down as he continued to go through his brothers writing. He didn't really mind, but Leo probably would. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, though.

As she sat down and leaned her cheek on his strong shoulder, she realised he was reading. Instead of closing her eyes as she usually did when he was busy, she read with him, weaving her arms around his to cuddle closer. He was scrolling with one hand and holding his mug in the other. But, while reading she clocked. _This is fanfiction. Why is he reading fanfiction?_

The word Captain Ryan came up and she burst into laughter.

It seemed he was completely unphased about it and she couldn't help grip onto him tighter as she went. "What's making you laugh, princess? Is it the fact I am reading this or something else?" He completely skipped over the fact he didn't want to be reading this all that much, as it would probably amuse her more. Even though they were not "just friends" they still acted as though the closest of best friends. It wasn't really all that different after all, minus the extra cuddles, kisses and snuggles it was near enough the same thing.

"I can't believe you of all people would read this, oh god. I'm breaking up with you I can't handle you reading _Space Heroes_ fanfiction." She was nowhere near being serious, but Donnie was still not yet used to the luxury of having a girlfriend, nor taking jokes about such things just yet. It was too short a period of time, and he could never believe someone would ever like someone like him anyway.

Eyes foggy, he shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable and let out a tiny "oh, okay." He didn't try to object, he didn't want to force her into anything and she realised her mistake all too late.

Moving his hand away from the mousepad, she locked her fingers between his, gripping his hand tightly and kissing his shoulder sweetly before he dropped his mug. "I wasn't being serious, Donnie. You can read whatever you want and I'd still love you. It was just a little unexpected and a joke. I'm sorry." Feeling foolish, he reached over to put the mug down and wipe his eyes, a weak laugh bubbling up and out from him. "Sorry, I'm just still... adjusting. I still feel like I'm not actually living in reality yet. I'm actually just reading it because Leo wrote it. I'm his proofreader."

The weak smile on his lips made her heart break and she felt a million times worse. Sitting up on her knees she started peppering kisses all over his face, pushing the laptop over accidentally with her knee onto the bed she continued to assault him with affectionate smooches.

"April-" smooch "I don't" kiss "Know if-" kiss "This is a good-" gently grabbing her cheeks and pulling her down, he kissed her briefly to get her to stop, leaving her sitting awkwardly on his thighs. A mumble of "let me finish" left him, and she made sure the laptop was okay before pausing to listen. "I don't know if this is a good idea, April. If one of my brothers comes in they might think we uh... y'know." Fucked, yes, she had caught on.

With a shrug, she nuzzled his snout sweetly and wrapped both arms around his shoulders. "I don't mind if you don't."

The little whine he let out was absolutely sinful, but he reached around her to put the laptop on his legs and shuffle her closer. "I don't, but if I don't finish proofreading by the end of the day Leo will kill me."

April didn't mind sitting where she was, and so shuffled as close as she could while he went over his brothers work in progress, hearing the beep of a messaging system whenever he spotted something for Leo to change. Whenever Donnie laughed he would read out certain sentences for her, and the two could try and laugh as quietly as possible as though not to get caught, but it was only ever things like :

" _The drizzle rained like chatting kittens, making Captain Ryan sad._

 _As the Captain stepped outside of his bunk, Crankshaw came closer, gazing with the affection of 4230 sweet glamorous guppies._ "

Either way, it was thoroughly amusing.

Roughly around the end, Leonardo came in and she pretended to be sleeping, cheek squashed against her lovers shoulder as she let her limbs flop, but she did recall the conversation clearly.

 _"I thought you said nobody else would read it!"_

 _"Well I'm not going to turn her away! Plus, she's asleep. That's her adorable sleep face. I should know it very well."_

 _"Don't gush on me, Donnie, please. If she wakes up before you finish, please change tabs or something."_

 _"Can do."_

Well that was a lie.

Once he was gone, she felt Donnie look over her "sleeping" form, but he obviously knew her better than she thought. "Wakey wakey, ya big liar. I know you aren't really asleep." With a laugh she opened her eyes, giving him a squeeze as he got back to reading it over. "What gave me away?"

"I know you too well, that's all."

It was probably something he didn't want to admit, but the second she closed her eyes again, she felt herself fall slowly into a light sleep. After about twenty minutes after she felt something cool brush over her now exposed shoulder, working it's way up to the warmth of her neck, carefully pushing strands of gingerbread hair out of the way. A small hum left her, and she let her head loll to the side, arms tightening around Donatello as her face nuzzled against him.

He seemed quite content with just a little sleeping person wrapped up in his arms, but once realising he had more to work with he greedily soaked it up as though his life depended on it. The longer he went on, the more she woke, and as soon as she was 100% sure on what was going on and aware of her body, she returned it. Possibly with a few warm licks here and there, but nothing really worth shaking a stick over.

With one message to Leo, the two were able to fall asleep uninterrupted and cozy in a warm bed.


	9. Late

Detention. A word feared by many a high-school kids and one that April herself had never been involved in. Until today, that is.

She had been two hours late because she had fallen asleep with Donnie in the lair, and had refused to get up in the comfort of his arms. Her phone alarm went off but she just shut it off to go back to sleep. It wasn't very deep or anything, but upon realising that it was in fact a Monday, she had quickly, and carefully removed herself from his grip to go to school. Her dad was upset, but figured it would happen eventually and so let her off this once, but upon returning to school she got an hours detention after school today. College didn't often have punishments, but seeing as she hadn't so much as called up, she was in deep trouble. Her father approved of the punishment as well, which just made things worse.

And now she was stuck with Casey in a room for the whole hour while the teacher listened to music on headphones typing things on the keyboard.

"This sucks, Red. What you in here for?" Casey questioned absurdly loud, not even worrying about the teacher. Fortunately they seemed not to care as long as they stayed here, and so she responded with a sigh and a mumble. "I came in two hours late accidentally."

Casey just started laughing, being reprimanded by a red-faced April. He was probably the only person that hadn't sussed the two of them out, and probably didn't care. "How can you do something like that accidentally? Oh man, you're never going to live this down." A huff while folding her arms left her silent, turning towards the front. "But hey, you're here with the amazing Casey Jones, so it couldn't be all bad. I'm only in here for hitting Ms RP with a hockey puck."

The teacher he was referring to was actually called Ms Reese, but she had been known throughout the school as RP because according to Casey her face reminded him of a peanut butter cup. She didn't quite understand it, but she had a fond liking towards the teacher, and she was as sweet as the chocolate covered treat she was nicknamed to be. Unless you were an awful student, of course.

Thing was, he wasn't even in her class, so it was probably something that happened in the hallway or something. Casey had never been one to have a great track record. Unless it was gym. He did, in fact, hold the 800m track record.

Meanwhile, Donnie had panicked. April had gone, and he knew she had school but judging by the warmth of his right arm, she hadn't left all that long ago. She was probably late and it was all his fault.

He had a serious problem when sleeping, and that was the fact that he held on pretty tight. He did get worried that whatever he was holding would never come back, a fear that stemmed from childhood. It was something along the lines of his childhood toy going missing and never returning...

" _Dad? Have you seen the Professor?_ " _The small turtle questioned, having hurried out in the middle of the night, tears in his eyes. He seemed most upset, and the boys Japanese was shaky and not as fluent as it usually was._

"My son," Splinter started, kneeling down slowly to pick up the small boy and cradle him in his arms. "I'm sure she will turn up again. The Professor hasn't gone missing before, yes?" He shook his head and hid his face against his fathers shoulder, still worrying about the whereabouts of Professor Chickadee. The little terrapin let the fabric of his fathers clothing soak up the salty tears of which ran down his face, his big brown eyes looking behind his father for some sort of solution. Splinter had always been an all-knowing figure towards him as a child, and seeing him without an answer was unnerving.

"Don't cry because you cannot find her, Donatello. Success begins in the mind, and if you go in with a defeatist attitude you'll surely come up short. Do not dwell on this, child. You've got to keep moving forward and progressing because there are plenty of things in the world to discover." And with that, he placed his son down and kissed his forehead, reaching into his pocket and handing him a purple mask. "You have a lot of potential. Don't worry about her for the moment, we can look for her later. She will show up, I'm sure of it."

Looking down at the mask in his hands, he noticed it looked a little big, but when he looked up, his father was smiling down at him. He could find her later. She wasn't going anywhere right now, and even then he was sure she would prefer wherever she was. Why else would she leave? 

* * *

"Ugghhh. It's been forever stuck in here. Red, how long has it been since the last time I asked?"

"Five minutes."

"I might as well be dead." Casey was dramatising things again, but that didn't exactly put things in the best position anyway. The two were assigned seats next to each other, and he kept leaning over onto her. When she happened to get an incoming call, however, Casey turned serious. "Is something happening? Bad guys? Crooks? Foot clan? Kraang? GOBLINS?!"

Rolling her eyes with a groan she spoke up softly. "We have never fought goblins, Jones, now keep it down."

Answering the phone, she put it to her ear and Casey leaned in close to try and catch on as well, but she kept trying to swat him away. It didn't work, but either way, he kept coming back like a virus to see what he was saying.

 _"Marshmallow! Have you been captured by pure evil and need assistance or are you fine?"_

"Donnie, I'm fine, calm down. Although I have been captured by pure evil. I'm in detenti-" The teacher had taken off their headphones and stood up, slamming their fist on the desk. "Jones, go sit on the other side of the room. April, you get an extra twenty minutes for using your phone in detention!"

 _"I'm so sorry, April I-"_

A soothing tone laced her voice and she smiled. "Don't worry about it, I'll be there as soon as I-"

"O'Neil!"

"Alright, alright."

Donnie was the one to hang up, but the second she went to put her phone away, a hand was held out for her to hand it over, and she reluctantly handed over her T-Phone. Thankfully her father had given her a backup from the one that had been broken in mortal combat, as she hadn't told him about the T-Phone, and so she started texting him under the table. She had his number memorised after all.

 _"Sorry for not telling you, I was a little caught up. I should be out in about an hour."_

"They didn't take your phone?"

"I'm texting you with a backup cell, so don't worry about it."

"In that case, see you soon. And put your phone away, before you get caught! I don't want to get you into more trouble."

With a smile, she put her phone in her bag and started to wait out the rest of the detention.

What she didn't realise was that Donnie was making his way over, hopping over rooftops by himself in the attire she had yet to see properly. They removed it after coming out of the forest after all, and so she hadn't had a chance to look over it properly. She knew they had made it all themselves, but as she saw the mask of which looked forged out of bone, along with a purple cape. It did scare her, and she couldn't take her eyes off of the window, however when the mask was pushed up to reveal those big, brown eyes she softened.

The teacher didn't much care about gazing through a window, and so she let it slide, however Casey was not at all impressed. That look was supposed to be reserved for him. Casey looked up to Donnie and he felt his gut sink. _He probably heard that pet name,_ he assumed, swallowing his pride. Instead, he started pulling faces through the glass, cracking a smile from both April and a slight, reluctant one from Casey.

He stayed until the end, messaging April and waiting for her response, but it seemed the Kraang had used the disguised soldiers to break into the classroom and were taking April anyway. At least one of them was already there. As Donnie texted his brothers to come to the school, he dropped his mask and came through the window. The lady at the front had already fled in terror, so it was just up to Casey and April to get their gear on or just start helping out. Donnie went to help release April first so she could help with her trained skills, and Casey had already gotten himself ready for a fight. Donnie had already given her a device to put up a particle barrier with her powers to shield herself, even if she didn't want to.

She may have trained, but without her tessen she wasn't as great as she could've been. But, a problem arose. "I can't seem to get the particle barrier up!"

"Girl, you already got my particle barrier u-" He was cut off by a glare and a shout of "Not now, Casey!"

With the shield down, it meant they had to fight without anything. They should be used to it, but Donatello knew he wasn't as amazing as his brothers. Whenever he thought he had it, he would end up getting them all trapped, and Casey, although a decent fighter, was not much help against several hundred Kraang soldiers. Sure, they were easier than triceratons, but not as simple when they were very, very close to being outnumbered. Gotta try though, right?

April went into it first, followed by Donnie and Casey. She may not have had a weapon, but she was deadly. God, he couldn't even stand and admire her right now, so he started helping with his staff, twirling it and jabbing after several soldiers at once. One happened to get behind him and restrain his arms, clenching them so tight he dropped his staff.

Casey was laughing, saying how useless he was, but obviously he hadn't paid attention to how often he fought with his feet.

Flicking himself upwards and forcing his elbows apart, he was able to basically hug the Kraang soldier from behind while using his feet to crush two of the soldiers heads together. As they collapsed, he ripped his arms free and swung the soldier around like a lasso, demolishing everything in its path. Grabbing his bo once more, he got back into the swing of things, Casey swallowing his words. Okay, maybe he wasn't THAT useless.

Once his brothers got there it was a party. They were beating Kraang here there and everywhere. It was pretty neat if you ask him. It never would've been expected that they would break into the school, but once the tiring fight was over, Donnie managed to get there first and give April a victory hug. One arm wrapped around he shoulders, the other around her hips as he rubbed his face all around her to mark her with his scent.

His brothers were stifling laughs and nudging each other, as it was a pretty intimate display of affection yet Casey just couldn't get it. Moving closer, he went to hug her but he started growling. It wasn't something Donnie intended to do, but his subconscious wasn't having it. He didn't like Casey and after that incident he didn't want to forgive him.

"Well excuse me for wanting to hug the lady, jeez. You really gonna let him growl at me for wanting to hug you, Red?"

She seemed stuck. She did like the warm hugs, even when it was protective, but Casey had a point. She should be allowed to hug her friends, even if they were a little bit of an asshole. It wasn't like she could stop him, he had always been like that and it was hard to really stop him from doing it. "I get where you're coming from, but you've been even more of an ass than usual Jones. Give him this once, and next victory hug, Donnie here can deal with it. You guys always crush me anyway." The little smile on both of their faces had shown there was no harm done, and Donnie sighed, shuffling over to pull Casey into the hug. "What gives?"

"April can make her own decisions. Just because I don't like you it doesn't mean I'm going to get in the way of them."

"You're still growling, dude."

"Can't help it, you assmuffin. Now shut your trap."

The moment was spoiled by everyone laughing, and Donnie smiled into her hair as the three hugged.

* * *

Protective instinct or not, it wasn't going to stop him from leaving April to make her own decisions. So, when she came over and sat between his legs on the floor for movie night, he had no objections, and instead started playing with her hair as the movie was being chosen.

"I'm proud of you, dewdrop."

"Hm?" He questioned, lost for a moment until she continued to answer his unasked question.

"You let Casey in even though he irritates you to no end. I'm proud of you for being the bigger person."

Even her using the word person made him extremely excited, and so he leaned forward to kiss the crown of her head. "Of course I'm the bigger person. All of you guys are tiny. Especially you, shortcake."

Looking up at him to stick out her tongue, the two sat calmly to watch the movie Mikey picked with the words "It's a classic."

Krampus.

God damn it, why did it have to be a horror movie? He would piss himself if he watched it, so he stood up carefully, weaving his way through people to get out and to his lab or something. But a certain someone had to pipe up. "Aw, you scared Don? What a spineless baby."

"Actually, turtles are tetrapods, so you can suck my dick, Jones. Oh wait, you probably don't even know what a tetrapod is." Scoffing, he waited for the boy to say something and as expected he did. "Wouldn't want to go near something like that. But, yeah I do. They're uh... a sub-species of reptile."

Every single one of the brothers looked at Donnie expectantly. "Tetrapods are four limbed vertebrae genius. The first tetrapods were fully aquatic. Today generally tetrapods remain semi-aquatic like a _mutated turtle_." He said the words "mutated turtle" slowly, as though speaking to a child. Casey just huffed and turned towards the TV.

"Still too scared to watch this movie, though."

A roll of his eyes and he went walking into his lab, closing and locking the door from the inside.

"He's such a girl." At that point, she threw a pillow at him, Mikey and Raph both going "ooooooh" as April stated from her side of the couch. _"That's_ sexist."

Before the movie started properly, April got herself up and went around to the garage door, hurrying to slide under it in time before he shut it. Standing up and dusting herself off, she looked up at him, features sad and slightly angry. "Donatello, please watch it with us. I don't want to watch it alone."

He seemed to regret listening, or running off, and he sighed. "You don't have to watch it, you know."

"But I want to! Pleeeeaaaaaseeee?" Another sigh. "Fine, but I'm going to be holding onto you through every single jumpscare." Her excitement made him crack a small smile and she unlocked and opened the lab door just as it was starting, everyone gathered around the television.

Donnie sat down, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, and he took April's had with a tension he would never be able to give up while sitting through this movie. It was alright from the beginning, having not missed much, but he knew what was coming about halfway. He knew what was going to happen and it made shivers run up his spine.

"Are we supposed to understand the old lady?" Raph questioned, leaning back against the cushions.

"No, I don't think so. We can understand everyone else, after all." Casey stated, and after a while Mikey let out an "aww" at the child speaking with the grandma. "I like that kid, if either of those two die I will not be impressed.

A few moments later, Raphael was laughing with the force of a thousand tonnes. Just after the girl said some people shouldn't be allowed to breed, anyway. "That's my kind of girl." He went on, and Mikey was absorbed, telling everyone to hush whenever someone spoke.

As the aunt came in, Raph spoke up again. "That lady's realistic man. I like her." But the second they started talking about Santa, they covered Mikey's ear canals, knowing for a fact they were going to go on about how he didn't exist. "The snowmen represent dead people I'm guessing." Raph stated, barely watching until it got interesting.

Barely eleven minutes in, however, the girl left the house to look for her boyfriend and Donnie was in hysterics. He knew for a fact it wasn't real, but he couldn't take it. Krampus made an appearance and he had tucked himself inside his shell to hide from the screen.

"Who is that?" Leonardo questioned more curious than scared and Donnie started speaking before Leo even finished his damn question. "It's Krampus. In Austro-Bavarian Alpine folklore, Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure described as "half-goat, half-demon", who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. Regions in Austria feature-" He was hushed collectively by Mikey, Raph and Casey, and his response was immediate. "You shush! This is how I deal with stress!"

As the movie went on everyone was silent with occasional screams, mostly Donnie and Raph, but April didn't budge. She watched with curiosity, or amusement when the gingerbread men game up, but upon hearing the voice of the girl she had to point out "That doesn't really sound much like Beth, to be honest."

"An electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves will not always be entirely accurate. You see, some things may become distorted when recreating them and so it often sounds a little different than how you are in person." He muttered directed at her, having creeped out of his shell to hold her hand. "Dee, she never said those words, though." He thought for a moment, racking his brain before coming up with an answer. "It may have been re-animation techniques to play with the voice of someone or something that has already passed on. Like when those voice distorters play a part in things, it may be slightly different depending on who uses it and by this point they probably don't care. As long as it sounds partially like-" A groan cut him off and he huddled up to April, trying not to pay too much attention to everything around him.

The movie was barely ever silent, and of course he knew the tension came from the music, but he couldn't help the feelings creeping up his spine and making him squirm. Just as a jump-scare came up though, he was relieved of his stress as Raphael threw one of his sai at the screen, easily puncturing the mechanics and killing the terrifying movie. Casey and Leo seemed the most upset about it.

"Damn it Raph, this is why we can't have nice things." Leo complained, his shoulders square and Donnie glanced up at April and she stood up, offering her hand to him, so he took both of them and gripped them tight. They may not have faced Krampus, but even with the training of fighting so many monsters he was not ready for horror movies. It was always terrifying watching these things, and if mutagen managed to make anything out of half of those movies, he would be a goner for sure. At least he had his hero in a yellow shirt and denim shorts.

As Mikey tried to fix the TV, April tried to get him to move but he was unfortunately rooted to the floor. Shame, really, as he wanted to go anywhere else. Just as he thought all was lost, his knight came to save the day with something that never failed to make his IQ drop and his legs feel like jelly. She kissed him.

Casey was sat right there as well, so if he didn't clock now he would flip out, but thing was that this didn't make him forget. It just made underlying feelings and he whined as his limbs went soft instead of into a state of rigor mortis. With both hands she led him away to the kitchen and helped him make a warm drink to soothe him at least a little. Or at the very least try to get something to warm inside him. His face was pale and he didn't look quite alright.

Before Raphael could get up, Casey grabbed his arm, yanking him down to press about those two. "When did those two become a thing?"

"Damn, you're even more dense than I thought. They've been dating for about a month, dude." His voice was calm, but he really felt like laughing right about now.

The expression on his face was priceless. "She has bad taste in guys. I mean, have you seen me?" He started posing in the middle of the room, and Mikey started laughing.

"You look like one of those minions from Krampus. Y'know, with the masks?"

Mikey got a pillow thrown at him.


	10. Nightmares

Ever since the movie he had been having nightmares. They weren't always the same, but they were all similar plot wise. He was used to nightmares, normally, as staying up so late caused them, and others often caused nightmares themselves by having a late-night snack, which can increase the metabolism and signal the brain to be more active. A number of medications also are known to contribute to nightmare frequency. His problem had always been sleep deprivation, but nowadays he couldn't go to sleep, wouldn't even because of these awful dreams. He didn't want to ask his brothers to stay in their room for the night, as they were a little insensitive at times. Splinter seemed like the person to go to, but he could never go up to him during his teenage years. Everyone would laugh at him.

Even April made him feel as though he couldn't reach out to her, but he was probably just paranoid again.

It wasn't long before he started getting night terrors, insomnia making it near impossible to get any shut-eye. Training was close to just be a daily beating not including weekends and everyone around him started acting strange.

They would ask him questions that he didn't want to answer, stick by him as though he were incapable of looking after himself and after not long he started bursting at the seams with quarantined rage of which was totally uncalled for. It was obvious to everyone something was up, and that night, Splinter came in to visit him and try to get him to calm down.

"Donatello, you need to listen to me. You haven't been yourself lately, are you sure you're quite alright?" The soothing voice asked, but it seemed no matter what he couldn't snap at his Sensei. He was too gentle, too loving and accepting. The one person he could trust not to laugh in his face had come to him, which showed in itself that something was wrong.

A shallow sob erupted from the turtle and he felt as though he were a tiny boy again. Vulnerable and in need of a parental figure.

"I-I can't sleep at all. I've t-tried analysing the i-issue but I can't figure it out." In this state his brain wasn't as useful and it seemed without a full nights sleep his brain wasn't functioning quite like it used to. He couldn't do things the way he used to, he could barely walk without shaking like a leaf. During the nights it was worst. He heard things. He saw people, screaming, shouting at him. Trying to pull him under. Occasionally he felt things brush over his skin even when he saw nothing. He felt like he was going insane. "I don't know what to do, father. I can't take much more of this- this- this insanity!"

As the tears gathered underneath his chin, he felt the hands of his father bring him in for a hug, just like he used to do. With a warm embrace, he held on tight, but stood up to leave him all too soon.

"Try asking Michelangelo for assistance. He may be silly often, but he knows when to lend an ear. Your brothers are trustworthy, and you shouldn't lock yourself up for something that is not your fault." With those words, he stood up and left.

Checking the clock, he saw it was nearly 4am, and so got himself up with shaky limbs to go to Michelangelo's room, knocking quietly before making his way in.

His brother was fast asleep as expected, so he gently shook him to try and wake him up. "M-Mikey? Buddy? I need to talk t-to you about something." His brother almost seemed too far gone, but after a few short moments, he shifted, lifting both hands to rub his baby blues to look up at his older brother. He looked small in a way, curled in on himself and his eyes were red from crying. It was no time for joking around.

"You okay? Sit down and we can go over it, okay? What did you come here for?" His voice was thick with sleep, but he held no malice in his words. It was nice to see that although his toxic thoughts poisoned his reality, it didn't make it completely accurate.

Sitting himself down, he shuffled over to wrap his baby brother in a hug, snuggling up to him sweetly. Mikey was definitely confused as they hadn't hugged since they were ten, but he was in no mindset to be turning away the affection. Pulling his brother up next to him, he held him close and kissed his forehead platonically, rubbing over his shoulder to try and stop him from shaking like an earthquake. He didn't speak anymore, just waited for him to speak up.

Being the patient person he was, he waited a full two minutes before his brother was ready, and with a quiet sigh the voice - usually of reason - spoke up. "I haven't been able to sleep properly, and I can never get to sleep either. The monsters keep coming and coming, but there's no explanation for them. No reason to use that they aren't there, and they're going to get me. They're going to get me and I can't stop them no matter what I do and-" Cutting him off with good intention, Mikey just cuddled him closer, nuzzling his snout affectionately. "Don't worry, Dee. I'll protect you for tonight, and you can sleep with me."

The offer was enough to get him off to sleep relatively quickly, and by the time the two were snuggled together and sleeping, Splinter had come in to check on them. Not wake them for training, today it would just be Raph and Leo, but to make sure that they were both sound asleep and settled. Mikey was often the one to get night terrors, so maybe, just maybe, they could protect each other from their demons.

Mikey woke up first, as he had gotten a full nights sleep, but his elder brother was still clutching onto him as tightly as he could, leaving no room to move. Just as he was about to close his eyes and get even more sleep, April peeked through his door, and the usually orange masked hero hushed her in a near silent way to tell her that it was quiet time.

A nod answered him and she made her way inside, just standing by the bed. They both looked over the genius with different expressions, however still both positive.

"He really hasn't been alright lately. Did he tell you anything?" She whispered, and Mikey nodded. "Night terrors. I used to get them as a kid. Probably from the movie, I'm guessing. He's never been great with horrors."

All she could think was that this was all her fault. If she hadn't coaxed him out to watch it, he would've been fine. Mikey seemed to sense how she was feeling and reached up to place a single hand on hers, albeit a little awkwardly. "It wasn't your fault, April. You didn't know."

With an encouraging smile and a squeeze of her hand, she softened. Kissing Michelangelo's forehead, she whispered a quiet "thank you", and did the same to Donatello with the utmost care. He always looked so peaceful in sleep, and finally seeing him get some good rest was a nice surprise today.

"April," Mikey spoke up before she could actually leave, and she turned towards him so he wouldn't have to speak all that loudly, watching Donnie nuzzle his face closer under Mikey's neck. "He's probably going to need a cuddle buddy for the next few weeks, and he's always been there for me, but I know he wouldn't want anyone else to know. If you could try and convince him to take little naps with you or something that'd be great. No one would say anything if it were you he was sleeping on." She got where he was coming from, as if Raph or Leo found out when Donnie didn't want them to, it would make things so much worse. With her, though, she could get him to sleep without the watchful eye of his brothers. They probably didn't sleep together ever, really.

"I promise to try my best, Mikey. Text me when he wakes up, okay?"

A nod as he shut his eyes to go back to sleep was enough of an answer for her, and so she left with a small smile on her face. He was going to be okay.

Just after dinner she found an unread text message on her phone, and when glancing at it she realised that her beloved was awake. Hurrying out, kissing her father goodbye and making her way down to the lair she got there just in time to see a tired looking Donnie making his way to the kitchen, Mikey just wrapping his blanket around him as he went.

As Mikey noticed she was there, he waved and started animatedly pointing at Donnie behind his back, signalling with a seemingly great magnitude of joy that he was awake and looked tired instead of terrified. April gave a thumbs up with a smile just before Donnie, himself, noticed.

Making their way over, everyone sat at the island in the kitchen, most eyes on Donnie. Mikey wasn't making dinner today, but it seemed Splinter had it covered. Just as Donnie shifted the blanket, April reached out to put a hand on his knee, looking up at him brightly, features saying "I'm here for you."

He seemed to take the hint, as soon enough she had her hand in his and the two were squeezing each others feelers under the table, only parting ways when the food was passed along. She had already eaten before Mikey messaged her, so she passed, just keeping some sort of contact with Donatello. Be that brushing her arm with his, letting her knee rest right next to his, leaning her head on his shoulder or any other form of contact. Just something to make him realise that she would always be there, and as would his family.

He started smiling about halfway through, and she rested her head in her arms while waiting for everyone to finish.

When she woke up, however, everyone was gone and Donnie's blanket was around her shoulders. Hurrying towards his room, she found him fast asleep on the bed, so she took the blanket off to drape over him.

When he turned to face her, she noticed a small plush in his grip. A small bird, and upon closer inspection she noticed the nametag was "Professor Chickadee." It was rather sweet, but she had some real damage to do here. Something she hadn't used in a long time, especially not with the Aeon crystal, anyway. She invaded his mind like a space invader. Zap zap motherfuckers.

Upon entry, she found it was complex to locate anything, but a scream dragged her towards the offending memories.

Making her way around with caution not to be seen, she found three doors. All were labelled in true, Donatello style, but the labels were what made her try to think.

"Darkest Fears."

"Phobias."

"Paranoia."

Obviously, she decided that his darkest fears must relate to something similar, but the phobias also linked with it. She decided to go into that door first, only opening it to peek in for a moment.

It was her, giant, angry with razor sharp teeth making him feel worthless and horrible. As much as she wanted to cut ties with this door, she couldn't mess with too much. She just had to sort what she came here to do and leave, no matter how heartbreaking it was to see that his darkest fear was to be reprimanded and hated by those around him. Or her in particular, she wasn't sure yet.

Closing the door quietly, she moved on to Phobias, however that door was full of certain specifics. Not really doing anything, just more like a visual list.

In paranoia, however, she found exactly what she was looking for.

The small child of Donatello being assaulted by large, shadow-like monsters, some with long hair and boils, others with fangs and razor sharp nails. The small turtle was crying, and she closed the door behind her. This was what she was looking for. Obviously she couldn't fight all his demons, but she would take on as many as she could. The ones that went after her were useless to her, as she was not afraid of that damn movie. That singled them down.

Using her powers to create a mental cage for the time being, she started her fight. Drop kicking the ones pushing boundaries, and punching those that got too close to either of the two. It couldn't have been longer than a couple of minutes, but she had fought his fears for him, releasing the others reluctantly before getting out of there.

Donnie was still sleeping peacefully, but the fact that the worst doors were only in three and the others were full of many, many happy memories showed that he had a lot of happy memories to block it out.

Kissing his forehead once more, she settled her head against his on the bed, letting her body stay mostly on the floor as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep beside the one she loved.


End file.
